Great Britain's Davis Cup captain John Lloyd believes Tim Henman's return to the competition has restored balance to the team.

The 32-year-old British number two announced on Sunday he was ending his self-imposed two-year exile, a move described as "fabulous news" by Lloyd.

Henman, who is currently recovering from a knee injury which forced him to withdraw from this month's Australian Open, last played in the competition in September 2004 before deciding to focus on his individual game and in the interim Britain's fortunes have taken a dip despite the emergence of Andy Murray.

They have fallen out of the World Group back into Euro-Africa Zone One and face Holland at the NEC in Birmingham on April 6.

However, Lloyd, who has just arrived in Australia from his Los Angeles base, has been lifted by Henman's decision.

"It is fabulous news. It makes my job a lot easier," he said. "He called me a few hours ago just before I left to get on the plane. I was a bit anxious about it because when he got his knee injury I thought it might make him have second thoughts.

"I was preparing in my mind that he was not going to play." Henman's return means, together with Murray and Greg Rusedski, Britain should be able to field their strongest line-up in living memory. Not only does that give Lloyd plenty of options, it also allows him to give less experienced players a chance to join the team and learn from the senior professionals.

"It gives us so much more flexibility - even apart from Tim's class and his great Davis Cup record - and it gives us more options in the singles and doubles," he added.

"Greg, hopefully, is desperate to play, and so that then gives us the squad spots of four and five for talented young players. It is a nice balance.

"If everyone is fit then we have got an up-and-coming player in Andy Murray, who is already world class but is going to get better, then we have two established players in Tim and Greg who have got a few good years left in them.

"It is a very good mix for young players to be around. We all know that Tim and Greg can't go on forever so let's get into the world group and get these younger players a bit more experience so they can see what it is all about."

Lloyd had been in regular contact with Henman for some months but said he had not pressurised the 32-year-old. He said: "I'm not taking any credit for it. I made it known to him that I wanted him to play. The important thing was that the first time I spoke to him he said he had been mis-quoted in saying he was never going to play Davis Cup again.

"At that time he didn't feel the real drive to do it, which I respected. I didn't want to bug him but I called him a few times and threw it into the mix occasionally. I saw him at odd places where he was playing and I also spoke to his coach, Paul Annacone, as we both use the same gym in LA.

"When I last saw him I was looking at speaking to him when he came out to Australia to make a decision one way or another."